The present invention relates generally to coupling devices for toy vehicles, such as toy cars, toy trucks, toy boats, toy trains, toy helicopters or the like and, more particularly, to a magnetic coupling including a stationary member and a retractable member.
Toy trains and other vehicles that join together to be towed or pulled in play are well known. Many toy trains utilize clasps or clevis-type hitches to join the train cars together. The clevis-type hitches allow a range of motion, but they generally require the user to pull a lever or spring-loaded upper piece in order to open the clevis portion to separate the train cars. Additionally, the hitch arrangements are all for allowing a tow action.
Some toy vehicle sets have utilized magnets to join together individual vehicles. Generally the vehicles have a magnet at either end. Each magnet is nearly identical so the magnets must be able to rotate or move in some fashion in order to align with the opposite poles (North/South) of another vehicle's magnet. Some of these vehicles had joined the magnets to the vehicles by chains or strings which allowed articulation similar to a hitch when pulling the vehicles, but does not allow for pushing the vehicles or pulling multiple vehicles as one composite unit more like a bus than a train or trailer.
What is needed but not provided for in the prior art is a coupling that allows a user to merely touch the ends of two vehicles together to join them and that allows a user to pull the vehicles without decoupling and to separate the vehicles by applying more force. What is also needed and not provided by the prior art is a composite vehicle made up of multiple vehicles that have similar coupling members capable of towing the multiple vehicles like a train in one configuration or pushing and pulling the multiple vehicles like one larger non-articulating vehicle in another configuration.